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Home Schoolers Beat National Averages on Achievement Tests

Home school students once again demonstrated achievement that was well above the national average in the new testing service launched by Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) this past spring. Group summary scores reported for grades kindergarten through twelve included the work of 5,124 children representing every state in the union. Composite scores on the basic battery of tests (reading, language, and mathematics) ranked 18 to 28 percentile points above public school averages.

Numbers on the chart should be read as follows: The typical home-schooled kindergarten child ranked at the 86th percentile in reading. This means he/she did better in reading than 85% of the sample population on whom the test was normed. The 79th percentile ranking in mathematics indicates that the typical home-schooled kindergartener did better than 78% of the norming population in mathematics. On total basic battery performance, the typical home-schooled kindergartener did better than 83% of the population.

The typical fourth grader in the home-schooling community did better than 76% of the norming population in reading, better than 62% of the population in mathematics, better than 69% of the population in language, and better than 70% of the norming population on the composite basic battery of tests.

Home schoolers who participated in HSLDA's testing program took the Stanford Achievement Test, 8th Edition, Form J. This testing effort was administered with strict adherence to publisher-generated controlled test conditions. Test administrators were duly screened, trained, and approved in keeping with industry standards.

The bottom line according to HSLDA president and founder, Michael P. Farris, is "Home schoolers do a good enough job to be left alone. Home schooling is a viable educational alternative which produces excellent academic results." In this day of emphasis on parental choice and responsibility in education, parents should have the option to teach their children at home with minimal interference. It's obvious they know how to produce quality results.

HSLDA continues to seek qualifiable test administrators in every corner of the nation. All that is required is a four-year college degree, willingness to view a three-hour training video, and a heart to serve home schoolers. Administrators are able to set appropriate fees for their time according to their discretion.

Stanford Achievement Test

Group Summary Scores by Grade